10 Reasons Jesus Came To Earth

It's Christmas time and that means lots of lights, decorations, music, trees, presents, and more. But is all of that what Christmas is really about? I hope you answered no ;) . My grandma has a coffee cup that says "Jesus is the reason for the season", and while that may sound corny it is surely true! But how exactly is it that Jesus is the reason for Christmas? The answer lies in the reasons why Jesus descended to earth.

Reason #1: Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for many.

Jesus declares in Mark 10:45, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (ESV) A ransom is a price that is paid to liberate a person from captivity. Therefore, Jesus' mission on earth is to serve humanity and redeem sinners from the bondage of sin and death.

Reason #2: Jesus came to bring light to a dark world.

Throughout the New Testament, the metaphor of light penetrating darkness is a common theme. And even before Christ, this theme is employed when speaking of Israel and also the coming of the Messiah. In John 1:9 we see how Jesus came to earth to be, "The true light, which gives light to everyone..." (ESV)

Reason #3: Jesus came to call sinners to repentance.

When Jesus sat down to enjoy a meal in His honor with a group of outcasts/sinners, the scribes and Pharisees were not happy about it. Jesus responds to their disgust by telling them in Luke 5:31-32, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance." (ESV) Now repentance isn't necessarily easy. Put simply repentance is the turning away from your past sin. However, we can often find ourselves drifting back into old mistakes and sins. this is why we Jesus came. He is the great physician and just like we need to go back to the doctor after a diagnosis for routine check-ups or therapy so do we need to routinely go to Jesus!

Reason #4: Jesus came to give the gift of eternal life.

Maybe the most obvious and well-known reason for Jesus' coming to earth is the gift of eternal life. we find this declaration in the famous scripture John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Maybe the most powerful passage in scripture, John 3:16 explains that Jesus came to earth to sacrifice His life on our behalf so that we would not perish in hell, but would have eternal life with the Father. What a glorious hope that gives us!

Reason #5: Jesus came to bear witness to the truth.

When Jesus is standing in front of Pontius Pilate in John 18:37, they have an exchange and Pilate asks Jesus, “So you are a king?" Jesus answers, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” So Jesus came to testify to the truth, to reveal the truth to us.

Reason #6: Jesus came to save sinners.

"Jesus came into the world to save sinners," 1 Tim 1:15. While we were still dead in our trespasses completely separated from God, Jesus came into the world, leaving His divine abode in heaven, becoming a man to save us from our sins. "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21. (ESV)

Reason #7: Jesus came to destroy Satan and defeat the powers of evil.

From the very beginning, Satan has been deceiving mankind. This started in the Garden of Eden when the woman (Eve) ate of the fruit and Adam ate likewise, therefore disobeying God and relinquishing his dominion over the earth. Jesus came to earth as the "2nd Adam" to defeat Satan and take back what rightfully belongs to humanity. 1 John 3:8 tells us this, "...The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." (ESV)

Reason #8: Jesus came to reveal His glory.

Yahweh revealed Himself to creation in the most direct and tangible way possible, through His Son, Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:13 says, "The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word." (CSB)

Reason #9: Jesus came to do the will of the Father.

This one is closely tied to reason #4. We see Jesus explicitly state this reason for His coming to earth in John 6:38, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me." But what is the Father's will that he is tasked to do? Let's continue with verse 39, "For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life..."

Reason #10: Jesus came to fulfill the Law/Torah.

Jesus also came down in order to take Israel's place and succeed where they had failed by fulfilling God's perfect Law. Listen to Jesus' statement in Matt. 5:17, "Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." Notice how He did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. God's law is perfect so it needn't be eliminated, but sinful man can never live up to its lofty standards, this leaves only God Himself up for the task. So He came to earth as the God-Man, Jesus the Messiah. And through the virgin birth, by the Spirit, He took on human nature and went on to walk a sinless life and fulfill the law perfectly.

These are what I believe to be 10 powerful reasons for the Christmas season. I'm there are more than just these 10 too, so if you have a biblically based reason why Jesus came to earth please share them in the comments!